Apparatus for making bulked yarn



Sept. 28, 1965 J. N. HALL ETAL APPARATUS FOR MAKING BULKED YARN 3Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS JbH/v /v. HALL W/AL/A/f ALLA/V A ORNEY FiledJuly 17, 1963 Sep 8, 1965 J. N. HALL ETAL APPARATUS FOR MAKING BULKEDYARN 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 17, 1963 2 Y 04 .E THNQN N R w 0 N w mJ0 M Sept. 28, 1965 J. N. HALL ETAL APPARATUS FOR MAKING BULKED YARN :sSheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 17, 1963 III INVENTORS JZH/V M HALL ATTORNEYUnited States Patent 3,208,125 APPARATUS FOR MAKING BULKED YARN John N.Hall, Newark, and William Allan Cook, Wilmington, DeL, assignors toJoseph Bancroft & Sons Co., Wilmington, Del., a corporation of DelawareFiled July 17, 1963, Ser. No. 295,776 6 Claims. (Cl. 284) This inventionrelates to an apparatus for making bulked yarns and more particularly toan apparatus wherein filaments are entangled or intermeshed to provide ayarn having predetermined characteristics of bulk and stretch.

An object is to provide a yarn composed of a plurality of continuousfilaments, at least some of which have been bulked, wherein the bulkedand unbulked filaments are held in non-slip relationship.

Another object is to provide a yarn of the above type having novel andimproved characteristics.

Another object is to provide a multifilament yarn wherein the filamentsare interlocked at spaced points to eliminate relative slippage.

Another object is to provide a multifilament yarn wherein certain of thefilaments are broken at intervals to provide a spun yarn effect.

Various other objects and advantages will be apparent as the nature ofthe invention is more fully disclosed.

In accordance with this invention one or more ends each composed of abundle of continuous filaments are passed in superimposed relationshiparound a circumfer ential groove in a drum containing a plurality ofbarbed needles which are disposed radially within the drum and areadapted to be progressively extended through the bundle of filaments inthe groove. The needles thus pierce the filament bundles and causedisplacement or breakage of certain filaments so that interlocking ofthe various filaments takes place. The bundle is then twisted and set intwisted state for permanenetly securing the filaments in interlockedrelationship.

The invention is particularly applicable to an embodiment wherein one ofthe ends is crimped and the other of the ends is uncrimped or is crimpedto a lesser extent than the first end. When such ends are twistedtogether the crimped filaments tend to slip over the straight filamentsand produce an irregular effect in the yarn. However, when the filamentsare interlocked in accordance with this invention such slippage iseliminated and a uniform yarn is obtained.

The nature of the invention will be better understood from the followingdescription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in whicha specific embodiment has been set forth for purposes of illustration.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a broken plan view of a needling apparatus embodying theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1 but on alarger scale;

FIG. 3 is a broken plan view similar to FIG. 1 but on a larger scaleshowing the needling zones;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail showing the barbed end of a needle;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic illustration showing a view of the needlingapparatus; and

FIG. 6 is a similar diagrammatic view illustrating the final product.

Referring to the drawings more in detail the invention is shown asembodied in a needling apparatus comprising a rotating drum 10 having aperipheral wall 11 and a radial wall 12. The drum carries an outer ballrace 13 which is held against a shoulder 14 by a ring 15 and clampingscrews 16. The ring 15 extends outwardly be- 3,208,125 Patented Sept.28, 1965 yond the periphery of the wall 11 to serve as a belt guide. Thedrum 10 is mounted on a fixed hub member 17 having a lower flange 18attached to a base plate 19. An inner ball bearing race 20 is securedagainst a shoulder 21 on the hub member 17 by a spring locking ring 22.

The hub 17 has an eccentric recess 23 in which a disc 24 is received andis clamped against a shoulder 25 by a lug 26 which is secured to the hub17 by a screw 27. A roller 30 is journalled to rotate on a stud 31 whichis adjustably secured in a slot 29 by means of a lock nut 28. Theeccentricity and the angular position of the roller 30 may be adjustedby shifting the stud 31 along the slot 29 and rotating the disc 24 inthe recess 23 of the hub. The roller 30 has a cylindrical surface 32with a curved projecting flange 33 at its upper edge for the purpose tobe described.

The drum 10 is formed with a peripheral groove 34 for the filaments tobe treated.

A resilient ring 35 is disposed within the peripheral wall 11 of thedrum 10 and is formed with an outer bead portion 36 which rests upon theradial wall 12 and is clamped in position by a cover disc 37 resting ona shoulder 38 of the wall 11 and secured by a locking ring 39. The ring35 is made of a soft resilient material such as natural or syntheticrubber, polyurethane or other plastic material. A plurality of needles45 extend radially through holes 46 in the ring 35 and through alignedholes 47 in the wall 11 registering with the groove 34. The holes 46 canbe replaced by radial surface grooves if desired for ease of assembly.The inner ends of the needles 45 are bent downwardly to form legs 49resting against the inner peripheral surface 50 of the ring 35. Thelower ends of the legs 49 terminate above and adjacent the upper surfaceof an inner peripheral flange 52 of the ring 35. The cylindrical surface32 of the roller 30 is adapted to engage the inner surface of the legs49 of the needles 45 and the inner peripheral surface of the ring flange52. The top flange 33 of the roller conforms to the curve of the legs 49to prevent axial movement of the legs when the ring 35 is compressed bythe roller 30. When the drum rotates around the hub 17 the legs 49 areengaged and displaced by the cam roller 30 to cause the needles 45 toproject through the holes 47 in the wall 11 and into the groove 34.

The projecting ends of the needles 45 are of reduced diameter and carrybarbs 53 which are adapted to engage and displace or in some cases tobreak the filaments in the groove 34. The drum 10 is driven by a belt 54from a driving roll 55.

A bundle 72 of crimped continuous filaments 73 is passed between adriven feed roll 56 and an adjustable rubber surfaced feed roll 57 intothe groove 34 of the drum 10. A second bundle 70 of straight oruncrimped filaments 71 or of less highly crimped filaments, is fedbetween a driven feed roll 58 and an adjustable rubber surfaced feedroll 59 to overlie the first bundle in the groove 34. The rolls 56 and58 are driven by the belt 54.

A clamping roller 60 is eccentrically journalled on a stud 61 secured inthe flange 18 by clamping bolt 62. The roller 60 has a resilient rim 63of compressible material such as natural or synthetic rubber having aperipheral head 64 positioned to contact the filaments in the groove 34to hold them under tension in their passage through the piercing zone 65where the needles 45 are in advanced position.

As the drum 10 with the bundles of filaments rotates about the hub 17 ofthe cam, roller 30 engages and progressively advances the needles 45 tocause the barbed ends to project through the holes 47 in the wall 11 sothat the barbs 53 engage and displace some of the filaments in thebundles as shown in FIG. 5. When the needles again retract the straightyarn 71 tends to snap back into place in the groove 34 while the crimpedfilaments 73 tend to remain displaced and entangled with the filaments71. The entanglement is such that slippage of the crimped filaments onthe straight filaments is prevented or reduced. If the filaments 71 areslightly crimped instead of being straight the entanglement provides abond which locks the various filaments in place.

While two filament bundles have been shown as fed to the groove 34 forentanglement by the needles, 45, obviously a single multifilament bundlemay be so treated or in certain instances the barbs may be caused tobreak certain of the filaments in the bundle to produce a yarn havingthe appearance of a spun yarn.

After leaving the drum the bundles may be twisted together as indicatedin FIG. 6 to provide a bulked yarn which can be fed through a tensiondevice or packaged without displacement of the filaments. If desired theyarns can be heat set for permanence.

The bulked yarn may be over fed into the entangling zone together withan unbulked yarn which is fed at a normal rate and with which the bulkedyarn is to be entangled. It is to be understood of course that othercombinations of yarns may be treated in this apparatus. For example, aplurality of unbulked yarns, or a plurality of bulked yarns, or amixture of the two may be fed to the entangling Zone at different rates,or in some cases a yarn having variations in bulk along its length maybe combined with an unbulked core yarn to be entangled therewith as theyarn passes around the drum.

The yarns in the combination above need not be of the same chemicalcomposition or fiber form. Continuous filament synthetic fibers, staplesynthetic fibers, cotton, wool, glass fibers, etc. can be used.

An overfed thick and thin yarn having variable bulk may be entangledwith an unbulked core yarn to produce a non-stretch thick and thin yarn.

The yarns in the various combinations may have equal or difierentshrinkage potentials.

The individual yarns in a combination of yarns may be fed at equal ratesor the rate of feed may be changed so as to overfeed an individual yarnrelative to the remaining yarns in the combination.

The following are specific examples:

(A) An overfed bulked yarn may be entangled with an unbulked yarn toproduce a non-stretch bulked yarn.

(B) Two unbulked yarns may be fed at an equal rate to the entanglingzone to produce a blended yarn which will resist strip back.

While the invention has been shown as applied to an embodimentcomprising a pair of filament bundles it is to be understood that aplurality of bundles can be combined and that the filaments of thevarious bundles may or may not be of the same material.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for making a bulked yarn composed of a plurality offilaments which comprises a rotatable drum having a peripheral yarnreceiving groove, a plurality of radially disposed needles within saiddrum in registration with said groove, cam means progressively advancingsaid needles into said groove for displacing filaments therein, andmeans feeding a bundle of filaments into said groove for engagement anddisplacement by said needles.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which a resilient ring isdisposed within said drum and said needles are carried by said ring.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said needles are formedwith axially extending legs within said drum and a cam roller isdisposed to progressively engage said legs for advancing said needlesinto said groove.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 in which said needles are carriedin a ring of resilient material and said cam roller is adapted to engagesaid needle legs and said ring.

5. Apparatus for treating textile materials composed of a plurality offilaments which comprises a rotatable member having a peripheral surfaceadapted to receive said filaments, means feeding said filaments alongsaid surface, a plurality of filament-displacing needles disposed alongsaid surface, and means advancing said needles in sequence through saidsurface in a direction to cause entanglement of said filaments in theZones of displacement whereby the filaments are entangled to preventrelative longitudinal displacement thereof.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 in which said displacing needleshaving barbs disposed to be advanced to engage said filaments in saidgroove.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 667,699 2/01Heaton 161-80 2,059,132 10/36 McDermott 161-81 2,339,431 1/44 Slayter28-722 X 2,869,967 1/59 Breen 57-140 2,896,303 7/59 Morrill 28-42,920,373 1/60 Gresham 28-4 2,930,100 3/60 Rust 28-4 3,073,714 1/63 Tuet al. 19-161 3,091,913 6/63 Field 57-140 3,102,379 9/63 Eble et al.57-140 3,112,552 12/63 Smith 161-80 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

1. APPARATUS FOR MAKING A BULKED YARN COMPOSED OF A PLURALITY OF FILAMENTS WHICH COMPRISES A ROTATABLE DRUM HAVING A PERIPHERAL YARN RECEIVING GROOVE, A PLURALITY OF RADIALLY DISPOSED NEEDLES WITHIN SAID DRUM IN REGISTRATION WITH SAID GROOVE, CAM MEANS PROGRESSIVELY ADVANCING SAID NEEDLES INTO SAID GROOVE FOR DISPLACING FILAMENTS THEREIN, AND MEANS FEEDING A BUNDLE OFF FILAMENTS INTO SIAD GROOVE FOR ENGAGEMENT AND DISPLACEMENT BY SAID NEEDLES. 